Understanding FISA, the Constitution, and Obama.
Before you threaten to not to vote or donate to Obama, not to work for the Democrats, or not to vote at all, take a short trip over the fold with me to understand all the different forces at play between FISA the Fourth (and other) Amendment and Obama.
Understand that FISA was been a law for thirty years. It was passed in 1978 by a Democratic Congress and Jimmy Carter, one of my personal heroes. Even in 1978 it gave sweeping powers to the government: Electronic Surveillance, Physical Searches, Phone Tapping, and Access to Certain Business Records. All with one single catch: a reporting requirement. The government wasn't required to report to any court in the public eye, no, it was allowed to report to a secret court. This situation just cried for abuse. However, it is doubtful that the
Understand that many people are upset because Bush used the long-standing FISA law to break the law.
Understand that the only thing that the 2008 passing of FISA did was to add telecom immunity, it altered none of the somewhat sketchy aspects of the law at all, another unfortunate situation that will hopefully be remedied soon with the next Congress and Obama's emphasis on transparency in government.
Understand that for each and every amendment there is a huge variety of nuances. No one amendment is cut and dried. The First? Free speech is not unlimited: you cant slander others or scream "fire" in a crowded theater. The Second? There are restrictions against owning guns in cities (or least there used to be) and who can buy guns. This extends to many others, including the Fourth, allowing for profiling at Airports, searches of suspicious cars. The problem here is that, once again, Bush has broken another law. Our anger should be focused at the Democrats for taking Impeachment off the table.
Understand that many Democrats do really feel that despite the telecoms breaking the law, FISA really can help defend the public against terrorist attacks, despite it being originally passed to defend against the communists.
Understand that Obama promised to support any filibuster of the telecom immunity Amendment. He did not promise to filibuster the amendment himself.
Understand that this issue is only massively divisive among us in the "liberal echo chamber," and that 90% of Obama's supporters are concerned about much more important issues such as global warming.
Understand this too: "...when Congress passes a law, it is subject to review by the courts. So if you want to worry about FISA, you ought to be thinking about who is going to be nominating federal judges and Supremes for the next four years."
Understand that we need every hand we can get to overthrow this past decade of reckless lawbreaking and dictatorship.